Game of Thrones Season 4 Spoilers: Does Varys Die?

As any fan of Game of Thrones knows, no character is safe. Main characters can die at a moment’s notice, no matter how popular they are amongst fans. So, should we be worried about the fate of one of the show’s most clever characters, Varys, in Season 4? The A Song of Ice and Fire book series provides the likely answer.

Warning: This article contains spoilers from the A Song of Ice and Fire book series. Click away now if you don't want to know!

Varys is one mysterious guy. He is, along with Littlefinger, one of the two characters whose motives are the foggiest of anyone on the show. Whose side is he on? Is he a Lannister croney? Does he have a soft spot for the Starks? Or does he wish to see Stannis or Daenerys on the Iron Throne? No one but Varys knows what Varys is thinking. Will his meddling and manipulative ways catch up to him in season 4?

Next season, we’re going to see Varys seemingly turn on one of his best friends (well, if you can call Varys friends with anyway). At the trial of Tyrion Lannister, Varys is going to give some very convincing testimony against his “pal” Tyrion, leaving Tyrion’s fate all but assured.

However, after Tyrion is found guilty, Varys assists Jaime in freeing Tyrion. During their escape, Tyrion stops off to murder his father Tywin, since they just so conveniently pass by his quarters, and Varys doesn’t seem too intent on stopping it. Then Varys sends Tyrion away in the dark of night to his friend Illyrio waiting in Essos. All of this seems a little too perfect, as if Varys planned the whole thing in advance, despite his feigned reluctance. What is your master plan, Varys? Of course, with Tywin murdered and Tyrion escaped, people are going to be looking for whoever aided Tyrion. It would have to be someone with intimate knowledge of King’s Landing’s secret tunnels, and who else but Varys would possess that kind of knowledge?

So does the king’s justice catch up with Varys in Season 4? No, not if the show follows the book. Varys always operates ten steps ahead of everyone else, and he’s going to go into hiding as soon as he sends Tyrion away. No one’s going to find Varys, and we don’t expect him to pop up again until the end of Season 5 or even Season 6, but when he does re-emerge: Watch out Lannisters.

Are you excited to see if Varys lives to see Season 5? Sound off in the comments!